MEN'S PREVIEW

The IAAF World Relays returns to the beautiful Bahamas for its second year after a smashing success in the inaugural event. Team USA will look to retain the Golden Baton, rewarded to the combined men’s and women’s team that scores the most points between the two day competition. 

 

Standing in the Americans' way are the traditional foes- Jamaica in the sprints, Kenya in the distances, who will look to sweep their respective events again in 2015. Jamaica will be aided by the fastest man in history, Usain Bolt, who will compete in both the 4x100 and 4x200 after skipping the event last season. 

 

FloTrack will be in Nassau, Bahamas this weekend providing full coverage of this unique event! Here’s a look at the men’s events, along our predictions:

 

4x100m (Saturday, 9:52pm EST)

 

Alright boys, fingers crossed! Let’s hold on to that damn stick this time!

 

The Americans fell victim to slippery fingers in both the 4x1 and 4x2 at the inaugural World Relays last year, but if they can manage to hang on to the precious baton with crisp exchanges this time around, an upset of the powerful Jamaicans could be in the works. Yes, I know Usain Bolt is running. He’s beatable, believe me. 

One word: Bolt

The names have mostly changed for the Team USA 4x1 from last year, as Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, and Ryan Bailey have all been added to the relay pool in 2015 to challenge a bolstered Jamaican group that has essentially traded Blake for Bolt. This race has added intrigue given Bolt’s recent comments regarding Gay’s shortened suspension from his 2013 doping offense, calling it “the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” The gloves are off!

 

Hopefully they don’t run into each other at the Atlantis water slide, that would be awkward!

 

So yeah, this matchup has all the extra oomph to give it a World Champs or Olympic feel. The Jamaicans have Bolt, their superhero, the most exciting human in World history, to go up against two former dopers in Gatlin and Gay, the bad boys. 

 

Bolt has run 10.12 and 20.20 in 2015, the 100m coming on a constructed track on the beach in Rio. He’s won every race he’s entered, but those times show he’s not invincible. If the Americans have a lead over the Jamaicans heading into the anchor (they should) then watch out, an upset could be in the works. It’s not likely but I’m saying it’s possible.

 

PREDICTION: 1. Jamaica 2. USA 3. Trinidad and Tobago  

 

4x200m (Sunday, 9:06pm EST)

 

Jamaica broke the World record in this event a year ago, and they have simply replaced Yohan Blake with Usain Bolt to ensure that they lower the mark in 2015. As far as substitutions go, Bolt is Jamaica’s closer, brought in like Mariano Rivera for the Yankees to make sure that the Americans don’t win any of their precious sprint relays. 

Jamaica set the 4x200 World record without Usain Bolt in 2014. 

This group of Americans has potential, just like the 4x100 squad, to beat the Jamaicans. Ryan Bailey, Justin Gatlin, Curtis Mitchell, and Wallace Spearmon form a formidable foe to the Caribbean powerhouse, with Spearmon having anchored Team USA to victory in the 4x200 at Penn Relays last Saturday. That team only ran 1:20.64 (WR is 1:18.63), but none of the other names listed above were on that relay. The expectation is that significant time will be cut off once those three are added in the final. 

 

Bolt wouldn’t run here if he wasn’t confident in his current ability as an anchor. Team USA is sending a much stronger 4x200 group in 2015, but that doesn’t change the fact that Bolt simply doesn’t lose relays. The stadium will erupt when he steps on the track, and he’ll use that extra push to carry Jamaica across the line first. 

 

PREDICTION: 1. Jamaica 2. USA 3. Trinidad and Tobago

 

4x400m (Sunday, 9:46pm EST)

 

Finally, an event that the Americans can and should win! 

 

As defending champs, the Yanks will be favored accordingly on Sunday with key pieces LaShawn Merritt, Tony McQuay, and David Verburg all returning to the Bahamas. It’s a bit concerning that both Merritt and McQuay got beat handily by Bahamas’ Chris Brown at last week’s Drake Relays (Brown ran 44.76, neither American broke 45), but as a whole Team USA is the strongest group in this field.
 

LaShawn Merritt led the US past Bahamas in the 4x400 anchor leg last year.

Don’t neglect the home-field advantage that the Bahamians will have over the U.S. The host nation was leading the Americans before Merritt stormed past Michael Mathieu on the last lap in 2014, and top Bahamian Chris Brown has already shown himself to be in superior form to the best Americans. He’s just one runner, but one that is capable of a heroic performance behind the urging of the home crowd. Remember, the Bahamas won gold in this event at the 2012 London Olympics.

The USA v. World 4x4 at Penn Relays was a good indication that the Americans should walk away as champions in the Bahamas. There, the American “B” team ran 3:00.86 in chilly conditions to beat the Bahamas by nearly a full second. Only Brycen Spratling will compete at World Relays from the Penn team, but three of the four from Team Bahamas at Penn will double back at World Relays. 

 

No word yet which four will make up each team, but Saturday was a good sign for the Americans heading into this weekend. 

 

PREDICTION: 1. USA 2. Bahamas 3. Trinidad and Tobago

 

4x800m (Saturday, 8:09pm EST)

 

The defending champion Kenyans would feel a lot more confident about retaining their World Relays title if David Rudisha hadn’t declined a free trip to the Bahamas. Without the World record holder, Team Kenya is still the favorite, but they are certainly vulnerable. 

 

Ok yes, a team of three 1:43 guys and Olympic bronze medalist Timothy Kitum (1:42.53 PB) is going to be awfully tough to beat. The Kenyans might just stick Kitum on their lead-off leg to try and break the race open and build an insurmountable lead like they did last year. Of course, that strategy nearly came back to bite them (anchor Alfred Kipketer barely broke 60 seconds on his second lap), but this talented of a group will have to make several mistakes to end up without gold in the Bahamas. 

Duane Solomon will lead the Americans against Kenya and Poland in the 4x800

The Americans will be joined by the Polish as the teams with the best chance to dethrone Kenya. Team USA is headlined by Duane Solomon, who is so valuable in a relay because he runs the first lap so aggressively. Solomon hasn’t run an 800 in 2015 yet, and he is definitely behind his fitness from a year ago, when he ran 1:43 at Mt. SAC (He ran 1:15.44 in the 600m at Mt. SAC two weeks ago). Sure, he was sick at Mt. SAC, but there’s no denying that he is not in 1:43 shape at this point in the season. 

 

The other Americans will most likely be Robby Andrews, Cas Loxsom, and Erik Sowinski. Andrews and Loxsom both collected USATF indoor titles in February (Andrews in the 1k, Loxsom in the 600m), with Loxsom breaking the American record twice in that event this winter. Sowinski has been solid, not spectacular in 2015, having recently made his outdoor debut at Mt. SAC in 1:47.03. Andrews has said his focus will be the 1500 in 2015, so his 1:46 800 a few weeks ago coupled with his 1k title from indoors is a good sign that he’s trending in the right direction. 

 

The Poles are the sleeper team in this event. On the backs of studs Marcin Lewandowski and Adam Kszczot, Poland beat Team USA out for second place in 2014, and nearly caught the struggling Kenyans at the line. Kzsczot has a 1:43.30 PB, and tons of experience on the international stage, having won World indoor medals in 2010 and 2014. He ran 1:45.77 indoors, just ahead Lewandowski, who ran 1:45.78 in the same race. Neither of these men have made their outdoor debuts, but based off indoors they will be ready to compete this weekend. 

 

PREDICTION: 1. Kenya 2. USA 3. Poland

 

DMR (Sunday, 8:31pm EST)

 

Kenya’s gold medal chances took a huge hit today when it was announced that Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop would not be competing at World Relays. First Rudisha, now Kiprop, what’s the deal guys? It’s the freakin’ Bahamas!

 

Now lacking Kiprop, who has already run 1:44.4 (at altitude) in 2015, the Kenyans have opened the door for the Americans to steal this event on Sunday. Team USA hasn’t officially announced who will run what legs, but the names so far include Ben Blankenship, Brandon Johnson, Kyle Merber, and Andrew Wheating. Johnson is the only name there who has 400m wheels, so he is locked in place unless one of the 4x400 guys also runs the DMR. Blankenship was on fire indoors, running 3:35 in Birmingham, so in all likelihood he would anchor. It appears that Merber or Wheating will lead off, so either way, the Americans are in good hands. 

Ben Blankenship has run out of his mind in 2015, setting PBs of 3:35 and 3:53 indoors.

Kenya still figures to be the favorite. Ferguson Rotich ran on Kenya’s 2014 4x800 World Relays team, and ran 1:42 last July in Monaco. His speed is a huge advantage for Kenya over the Americans in the 800 leg. There’s also 19-year-old Timothy Cheruiyot, who ran a 3:36 World lead in Kenya just two weeks back. That time is even more impressive when you consider that it was run at 6,000ft. 

 

If we follow the traditional model of DMRs, this race should come down to the anchor leg. If it's down to Blankenship v. Cheruiyot, I’m going to give the edge to Kenya, but by a very narrow margin. Blankenship has been a man on a mission this season, and he doesn’t take losing very well. Buckle your seatbelts, this one figures to be a dandy. 

 

PREDICTION: 1. Kenya 2. USA 3. Poland